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Reward & Recognition

Business Overview

Case Study: Fujitsu

They are one of the top five information and communication technology providers in the world, with over 5 decades of experience delivering technology solutions to customers around the globe.

In the UK and Ireland, Fujitsu offers an integrated product and service portfolio that includes IT consulting services, technology products, managed services, cloud-based solutions, and systems integration. They are experts in digital business transformation and have a proven track record of enabling both private and public sector customers to digitalise with confidence.

Fujitsu has helped many of its customers to digitally transform to meet changing consumer needs and take advantage of the benefits brought about by digital disruption. With over 7,000 employees in the UK and Ireland, Fujitsu is the largest Japanese employer in the region.

Number of Employees
7000+
Industry
IT Services
Locations
200 (Including Customer Sites)
The Challenge 

As one of the top five leading IT consulting firms in the world, it puts a huge focus on Employee Benefits, culture and more recently reward and recognition. Therefore, in 2018, Fujitsu decided to re-visit its recognition scheme to see if it could be improved. The Team at Fujitsu led by Paula Evans, Head of Pensions and Benefits for UK & Ireland asked employees for suggestions on how this could be done. There were plenty, including:

* More choice of rewards
* Easier administration, and a reduction of steps between nomination and reward
* Better information for managers, and more self-service
* More categories of recognition

In addition, it was clear from the feedback that the company workforce had a diverse and international make up, meaning that each employee might have different needs from a programme. The programme needed to be bespoke and flexible enough to embrace all employees.

Once all the feedback from employees was taken into consideration, Paula and her team then put a brief out to the leading providers.

The Solution 

Fujitsu awarded the contract to Xexec, which provided plenty of feedback when designing the new set-up. Top of mind during the process was to make sure the new scheme tied in closely to the values of the company. In addition, the Xexec team focused heavily on the types of behaviours Fujitsu wanted to drive through its scheme – something that Fujitsu puts a premium on.

Paula believes this is the most important consideration for any business setting up (or re-launching) a recognition program. "This is the core piece of advice I’d give: make sure you and your provider think about the behaviors you want your scheme to drive.”

For Fujitsu, the new recognition scheme was carefully calibrated to complement its six key corporate values:
• Customers
• Integrity
• Teamwork
• Accountability
• Innovation
• Inclusiveness

In addition, it was updated to address the specific feedback received from Fujitsu people during the consultation process.

Fujitsu introduced far more choice including several new awards such as the 'High Five'. This is just for managers to give and is designed to be flexible. Workers can choose from coffee and cake, or a long lunch/early finish or a charity donation. The company also extended its range of 'thank you' e-cards, to go from High Five which gives employees the option of a coffee and cake voucher, a long lunch or early finish to the day, the Big Thank you £50, right up to platinum (£1,000).

The Outcome 

Using the new system is now much easier for employees and managers. The new system has returned more autonomy back to managers. They can go into the system to see the details of their teams' nominations and rewards. They do not need to ask HR anymore! In addition, managers and employees can go into the system to propose someone for an award – or to redeem one. Its far quicker than the previous system and can take just minutes between nominating an award and giving an award.

Fujitsu has added further new types of individual awards since the original launch as the programme is now used to deliver Long Service awards and the excellent team award process enables teams to be recognized for team achievements all at the same time.

It is now just over a year since the new scheme went live. Fujitsu is delighted with the outcome. It has handed out over 10,700 awards including over 123 platinum awards and has maintained its £1 million annual spend.

The awards given are redeemable for products in the Xexec portal. Paula was full of praise for the choice on offer. "The Xexec catalogue is really extensive. I don't think there's anything on there that you’d want and couldn't buy."

Paula continued “but it is not only the awards on offer that has made this new recognition scheme a success. The fact that Xexec took the time to get to know the company and built a bespoke system around our core values had been critical. This has been the main driver behind the amazing up take and the enthusiasm from employees and managers for the scheme”.

The scheme has been so successful that it is now also live in the company’s Global Delivery Division and the next stage is for Fujitsu to roll out the scheme among its international operations. This will open up the possibility of recognizing collaboration between teams in different geographies

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